Already I feel I have learned so much. I’ve been particularly interested in the effects of climate change here and am so, so lucky to have professor Ian Mauro teaching the environmental component of the program. He is doing groundbreaking research with filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk O.C. (Fast Runner) into the observations Inuit peoples have made about the changing environment. They are finishing up a film titled “Qapirangajuk: To Spear Strangely” which will be released in the fall (info and media here – http://www.isuma.tv/lo/en/inuit-knowledge-and-climate-change). We are fortunate to have been able to preview the film this week and it is phenomenal. Many people in different places in Nunavut have noticed that the positions of the sun rise, the north star and the moon have shifted over their lifetimes and claim the earth has tilted. This is a really big deal. There are two causes Ian explained for such an observation – the warming of the oceans has caused them to expand (with heat, molecules move faster and take up a larger volume) changing their positions on earth, shifting the position of the earth. NASA has recorded a change in the tilt in the earth due to ocean thermal expansion, though they claim it would not be noticeable. Another climactic change that would cause a perception of the earth tilting is the warming of the atmosphere. As the atmosphere warms, the molecular density changes, changing the way light is refracted through the atmosphere. This refraction also causes the sun to ‘rise’ earlier (it appears above the horizon when it is not yet above the horizon). Again, this causes more warming.

The climate has warmed double the global average in the Arctic. It is warming faster than any other ecosystem.
The changes are noticeable. Even in the ten years since Ian first came as participant on this program, the summer finger glaciers students once slid down have disappeared. Trails through Auyuittuq National Park that existed for decades have collapsed due to permafrost melting. People are finding that seal skins are deteriorated and thinner now. Some seals have burned, furless skin. Everything is thawing, melting earlier. Multiyear ice is disappearing. People are having skin problems due to changing sunlight.

As mentioned, due to climate change, the permafrost (the permanently frozen earth that makes up the land here) is melting. Here, the melting is so substantial that the permafrost by the river in Pang collapsed in 2008 taking with it the old bridge and the new bridge they were in the process of replacing it with. I have photographs posted wherein you can see how the earth has shifted downward and crumbled. You can also see the remnants of the old bridge and the level at with the banks of the river once were (level with the buildings)

Aside from the damage to homes and other structures, another downside to permafrost melting is that it is largely composed of peat – a carbon sink. As the permafrost melts, the carbon is released from the peat, effectively speeding up climate change.

There are many effects of climate change here, these are just the few I’ve learned about so far (and know very, very little at that). I recommend checking out the website for the film (link above). I haven’t had the chance to really look at it, but I hear there is footage and more to read.

It is an amazing privilege to be here.. there’s something to be said for standing in one place and have your professor explain -The permafrost is melting. See? This is what happened here and this is how the Inuit are struggling, adapting, rebuilding. –

Instead of posting photographs here as I usually would, I have left them in the zenfolio gallery. Linking in to the blog is terribly time-consuming on even a fast internet connection. So here they are!

http://hollynorris.ca/p971501125

Crepe shop in Toronto. I’m not as stealth as I’d like to think.

February. cough syrup.

Toronto.

Poetry Slam at The Spill

Peterborough.

Young Detectives

The Wooden Sky.

Cultural Outreach is always one of my favourite things to shoot for the Annual. Unfortunately this year, I had some pretty significant and unusual camera troubles earlier that day, so while shooting, I was struggling to learn how to use a coworker’s 5D I’d borrowed just minutes before the show started. I was disappointed by how less than awesome my photos were this year, but here are a few anyway..

The following bunch of photos are from this year’s Anne Shirley Theatre Company’s production, The Pajama Game. This performance was amazing. I will definitely be front row centre again next year!

I want to encourage you to check out Jes’s work, which was very much inspiration for American Able. Some of it is online for the time being here – www.crookedcanvas.ca

I’ve had a couple requests for images of American Able showing in the TTC (Toronto transit stations), so I figured I’d post those here. Many thanks to M.P. for photos of it showing May 6.. I’m still out in the woods on a field course and haven’t had the chance to see the show yet. The work will also be screening every ten minutes on May 11, 22, and 31.

The pieces ‘Workout’ and ‘Panty Time’ have been pulled from the show and a modified version of ‘Summer’s Coming’ is showing due to concerns with the nudity in them.

Check out the American Apparel billboard in the background! The images in the previous two photographs are a direct response to the billboards AA has in the TTC.

These photographs are from the No More Silence March held on February 14, 2010 in Toronto to honour the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. Over 500 indigenous women have been murdered or have gone missing in the last thirty years on Turtle Island.
“[We] come together to grieve the loss of beloved sisters, remember the women who are still missing, and to dedicate ourselves to justice… We come together in defense of our lives and to demonstrate against the complicity of the state in the ongoing genocide of Indigenous women and the impunity of state institutions and actors (police, RCMP, coroners’ offices and the courts) that prevents justice for all Indigenous Peoples.” – No One Is Illegal (Check them out!)

Oh – if you head back to the homepage you can enter your email into the ‘subscribe’ box at the bottom right. Don’t worry, you won’t get tons of emails.. only on the rare occasion I update my blog will you get an email from WordPress letting you know. So you know, sign up and boost my ego :) …cause that’s totally necessary.

A party at a friend’s apartment..

Jamaican poet, Mutabaruka performs at Market Hall

Anna performs with The Resolutionaries

This and the following photos are from a Cultural Studies department performance of Attempts on Her Life at Market Hall..

Photos from the Self Love Week cabaret at Sadleir House..

The Rural Alberta Advantage

Barn cats from some class farm visits I went in November

I think this needs one of those LOLCATS captions..

On December 9 a rally was held on campus to protest against the recent racist attacks on several Trent international students in downtown Peterborough. An article by Arthur about the attacks can be found here.

My library home at least had some nice views, sometimes.

Dinner at our apartment with a few of Liz and I’s lovely friends after I’d finally finished for the semester

A group known as The Elegant Spider ‘yarn bombed’ Hunter St in Peterborough on December 6, the twentieth anniversary of the Montreal massacre. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this event, in 1989 a young man went into Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal and murdered 14 women and injured several others (further reading here – great article). More info on the ‘yarn bombing’ in Peterborough can be found here on Arthur’s website.

“On November 20th at 7pm members of the Peterborough community [gathered] in Confederation Park to honour the ongoing struggles of the transgender community, and remember those who have been lost as a result of hate-related crimes over the course of the past year.

Trans Day of Remembrance works to raise public awareness of hate crimes against transgender people, which is often ignored by the media. The Day of Remembrance publicly mourns the lives of our brothers and sisters who would otherwise be forgotten. Through the vigil, we express love and respect for the trans community in the face of international indifference and hatred. The Day of Remembrance reminds non-transgender people that we are their sons, daughters, parents, friends and lovers. Trans Day of Remembrance calls on us to recognize the ways in which transphobia, racism, classism and sex-worker stigma are linked so that we can join together to eradicate all oppression and hate-based violence to create a safer life for us all.

Through the Day of Remembrance, we ask our allies to step forward with us and stand in vigil, memorializing those who have died, and creating a community of solidarity working together towards an end to transphobia and hate-based violence. We welcome all members of the Peterborough community to join us for a candle-light vigil, followed by a reading of the names of those lost over the past year.”
- Transmission

Here are a few photos from the event.. I only shot a handful since photographing at events such as this always feels so loud and disruptive, despite my feelings that it’s very important to document these things.

This shot is from a personal series called “Spaces: A series of hauntings in reflection” I’ve been working on for far too long now. I’m hoping to wrap it up by the end of this month. But then, I’ve said that since last winter, haven’t I.

Ohbijou played at the MoHo…

The Acorn played too..

I tried to join in, but within a few seconds had a quickly swelling eyebrow, decided I was too delicate, and returned to photo taking.

Moho Halloween show – Denim and Leather

Moho Halloween Show – The Burning Hell

I’m not sure who took this photo… I’m at the bottom of the pile, giggling and struggling to breathe

A quiet pause amidst the Drop Fees Day of Action in Toronto. Full gallery and more info here.

Romeo Dallaire spoke at Trent..

Trent campus..

Daily commute..

Candle Cave Ensemble Part II

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Coming up in the next week or so I’m shooting Afrobana and the Trans Day of Remembrance. This month is going to be hectic, so I don’t anticipate much time for day to day/social shooting (read: a life beyond the library). I have my camera on me just about every day, but I too rarely take it out of my bag. I should, though. That was definitely my intention when I started this blog and bought a camera bag that could double as a school bag. I head back to Halifax on December 20th, and I’m getting really excited about getting to the ocean and shooting photos, taking street shots downtown (I’m getting more and more into (looking at) street photography, but Peterborough often feels like too small of a town for it), having time to work on some personal art projects, and of course seeing family and friends.

This is a Tamworth pig – a rare, heritage breed

These are Wiltshire Horn sheep..

Goats!!

So if you’ve managed to get through all these photos without babbling in a baby voice out loud.. then don’t ever ask me out. We’re clearly not compatible.

This woman owned the goat farm we visited. In this photograph she’s ‘dowsing’ for pregnancy, similar to dowsing/witching for water for wells. She’s hanging a piece of chain over the goats back, and it swings in circles (female) or as a pendulum (male) to determine the number and sexes of the offspring. She let people in the class try it after, and about half were able to dowse for pregnancy, and for each one the chain indicated there would be one male and one female baby. I was so, so skeptical, but she let me try and I was shocked to see it happen in my own hands. I’ll have to find another pregnant animal to try it with!

This photograph and the next few until the cow photos were shot on my professor’s farm. We all gathered in his home for coffee and tea, and then wandered about..

For shocking cows..